Monarch's Return
by Ronnel no Fenniksu
Summary: When Pyrrha tries to make sure that Jaune is her partner, she misses. Or rather, she doesn't miss, and Jaune Arc dies that day in his Initiation. But for the teen who would be a hero, death is only.. an inconvenience along the way. The Darkness is spreading, but there is always someone to take the throne in the fight.
1. Prologue

_**RWBY: Monarch Rising**_

 _Ages ago, another Kingdom ruled over the surface of Remnant, stretching across most of the known world. That kingdom's name is lost to the annals of time, but the final tales still ring even to this day, tales of how the kingdom died, but it fought the darkness even until the end._

 _There was a wise and powerful king who ruled that land, a man who studied the deepest arts of the soul, solving mysteries that, with his death, remain unsolved. Under his rule, the lost Kingdom advanced greatly, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity. But there was a dark tint to this tale of wonder, a twisted curse that creeped along the edges of the kingdom, striking some but not all._

 _This curse manifested in a twisted life after death, the victims coming back to life again and again. This might not seem like such a bad thing to those listening – living after you've been killed? Getting back up to fight those who thought they'd defeated you? To Hunters, the opportunity to come back after fighting the Grimm would be Oum-sent indeed!_

 _Wrong. So very, very wrong. For, with every death and rebirth, those cursed to come back lost a little more of their sanity, becoming little more than monsters and beasts. Those far gone into the madness even began, in some rare cases, to lose their human shape, becoming deformed abominations. But the good king was strong, stronger than the curse, and it was widely believed that he was close to unlocking the final mysteries of the soul. And if he had, all believed that he could have cured the curse before it became a crippling problem to his Kingdom._

 _But alas, as we know, there is no grand Kingdom ruling over us, instead we have the Four Kingdoms. Legends speak of a war, sparked by a mysterious cause, which ended up ruining the king, and his Kingdom. Against opponents unknown, but only referred to as 'giants', the wise king's Kingdom fell apart, and the dark curse spread like a plague across the survivors._

 _Generations passed after the fall of the Kingdom, and a new legend was born. A Legend, embodied in the man who would become known to all who met him as 'The Future Monarch'. This man was one who was burdened with the horrible curse of Undeath, rising again even after his body was broken and shattered by his foes. The Future Monarch took up arms against the darkness that had engulfed not only the Kingdom, but the whole world, and strove to bring back the light._

 _But this true hero was not alone, for one man, no matter how strong, could not have faced all of the horrors that had taken root in the lost Kingdom, alone, and survived. The Future Monarch had companions with him, several who sparked legends of their own._

 _The Black Reaper, the first of his companions, who carried a midnight black scythe that could tear through the densest armor of their foes, seeking out the weak points in whatever defense they had and slicing through it, leaving them crippled as the others moved in for the kill._

 _There was the Fencer, born in another land, cursed as they all were, and here in the Lost Kingdom searching for her missing brother. With Soul-aided skill, she could land devastating blows on her target, ending many a life with one strike._

 _There was the Red Brawler, a noble man who had lost his family to the curse, and he came searching for answers. With fists full of fire he would torch his foes from afar as a pyromancer, and any who dared come close found that those same fiery fists could crush armor and bones with ease._

 _The Assassin Duo, twin warriors of the night, who used daggers, darts, and poison to weaken their targets, leaving them unable to fight in the face of the coordinated assault from the pair. Many was the monster who fell without even knowing that they were under attack._

 _The Berserker, a massive mountain of muscle that used twin hammers to crush everything in his path, following the Last Knight, keeping an oath to aid her in whatever way he could, demolishing everything that got in his way._

 _The Last Knight, come to avenge her family's honor, fallen with the death of the Kingdom, as she was the last of her line, her womb rendered barren by a childhood accident. With no chance of the line continuing, a desire for vengeance burned brighter in her than in any in her line for many years._

 _And the Monarch himself, a remarkably talented man. Rising from mystery, he came to the lost Kingdom carrying nothing more than a staff and simple sword on his back, a quiet, unassuming man who many of the benighted residents of that forsaken kingdom thought was just one more fool under the curse, come to die in a place away from his friends and family, until his madness overtook him as well. Instead, he took up blade and staff, wielding long forgotten soul arts to strike down his foes._

 _Time and time again, the Future Monarch, aided by his cohorts or alone, hunted down the darkest of the twisted souls that had once been the council in the lost Kingdom, using an unforeseen ability of those who are accursed to absorb the souls of those they fought, breaking those lost souls from the cycle of death and rebirth. This enabled the Monarch and his allies to grow far beyond human limits, some say even beyond what Hunters today can obtain! With these hard-won strengths, the Monarch and his friends continued to wage war upon the lost kingdom, destroying the monsters that populated the land, freeing minor kingdom after minor kingdom._

 _But the madness consumes all, and eventually the Monarch's friends began to fall to the cycle of death and rebirth themselves. The first time it happened, the Last Knight was the victim, and she became a terrible demon that nearly ruined everything the group had accomplished, as she wreaked havoc on the freed lands. It fell to the Berserker and the Monarch to strike her down, and when her devastated body lay at their feet, the Berserker forced the Monarch to slay him as well while he was still sane, as without his oath to keep him going the madness would claim him soon._

 _Time and time again after that, as the Monarch and his allies got closer to uncovering the secrets of the fall of the kingdom, the others lost their minds, cracking the Future Monarch's heart as he was thrown into struggle against those dearest to him. In the end, only one of the twin assassins and the Black Reaper stood with him against the true architect of the Kingdom's fall:_

 _The Mad Queen Nashandra. A twisted, monstrous figure, one prompted by jealousy and hatred to poison her husband's mind, until her reluctantly started a war with the 'giants' as the only means of keeping his people safe. In reality, the Mad Queen was actually after the power that the wise king was close to unlocking, and she believed that if she had her old people killed – for she was a princess of the 'giant's – no one would stop her from taking that power from her husband's body, for she had planned that her husband and father would fall in battle to each other. It had not happened that way: For what no one had known until it was too late, was that the wise king himself was fallen to the dark curse, and with him trapped in the 'undeath' of the curse, the secrets he had been about to uncover were sealed away with him, until someone managed to follow his footsteps on his own._

 _But Nashandra was not one to put in effort herself. No, she was a thief, and to keep herself in control and at ease, she had thrown seeds of the curse out into the world beyond the lost kingdom, blighting other lands, in the belief that someone would come to the kingdom seeking the knowledge to cure it, and in that seeking, they would reveal what the wise king had taken with him into madness. It was to the Mad Queen's downfall that the Future Monarch was the one who came, for it was at this point that the most destructive ability of all was revealed._

 _Nashandra, having lived centuries buried in the filth and rot of the dead kingdom, had somehow cultivated the ability to induce the madness of the undeath cycle in those trapped within it. She used this abominable ability on the Future Monarch and his allies, seeking to rip the knowledge from their brains, thinking they held what she sought._

 _The Reaper and the Assassin fell to the attack, their minds stripped away from them in an instant. Nashandra blighted the resulting monsters from existence as she turned to the mind that still remained in front of her, the Future Monarch having somehow avoided her attack._

 _A terrible battle waged between the two Monarchs, one selfishly seeking power, the other now fighting for vengeance, for the sake of all those who had supported him to this point, and for all those yet unborn who might be free forever of the curse if he could cure it. The entire castle was their battlefield, the Mad Queen using dark, destructive soul arts based solely upon the corruption and the darkness that she had engendered, while the Future Monarch used a mace wreathed in pure soul energy, and wondrous feats of soul magic to counter her._

 _In the ruins and the rubble, the Future Monarch stood victorious over the defeated Mad Queen. But even in defeat, the Queen was treacherous – she devoted all of her remaining energy, stealing her own life away in the process, to destroy the Future Monarch's mind, hatefully consigning him to madness with her dying breath._

 _Her bitter hopes were ruined when the Monarch revealed something. He hadn't avoided her initial attack, the one that had robbed him of his last friends. Somehow, the future monarch was stronger than the madness, stronger than the pain of loss, betrayal, sorrow, and hatred that had plagued the accursed since the beginning of the curse. He crushed the last embers of life from the vile woman, then proceeded back into the depths of the castle ruins._

 _It is here that the legend… dies. It is unknown what happened to the Future Monarch after his grand act of regicide, and even that battle is recounted by a scurvy little man who'd spied on the fight, known only at the time as 'Patches'. What is known, is that he disappeared after this, but in the process of his disappearance, the Curse was prevented from infecting any more people._

 _Of course, these are only legends, so who knows how much is true, and how much is only fairy tales?_

The woman closed the book she was reading from and smiled at the sleeping blonde boy who was curled up on the couch beside her, his head in her lap as she combed her fingers through his hair. For a few moments the two of them sat there in peace and quiet, before a deep voice made the woman look up.

"I don't know why he likes that story so much, it's such a dark one." The woman gave a soft laugh.

"Oh Acier, you know he loves it because of the fact that there's a hero saving the world." Acier laughed and nodded, then walked over the couch and scooped the boy up into his arms. "It has gotten rather late hasn't it?"

"It's about 8 p.m. now, and he starts Signal tomorrow. It's definitely time for Jaune to get to bed." Acier strode out of the room, gently carrying Jaune with him. His wife let out a soft smile watching her husband, then slowly stood up and set the book that she'd been reading from on the side-table next to the couch, and followed after Acier and her son.

Time Skip: 4 Months

"You take that back! The Monarch protected us all!" Jaune glared at the bigger boy who he had just pushed back, his lower lip trembling as he focused his anger on the boy in front of him. The larger boy snarled and shoved back, knocking Jaune to the ground.

"No way! It's the Hunters who protect us, not some fairy tale hero who isn't even real!" Jaune's blue eyes sparked and he started to stand up, grabbing onto the other boy's shirt and pulling him into a fight.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowing from the kids who'd gathered around the arguing boys quickly drew a teacher, who separated the two kids by the simple expedient of picking both of them up and physically pulling them apart. In the few seconds it had taken him to get over to the boys, both had gotten black eyes, and Jaune also had a split lip, while the bigger boy had blood dribbling from his nose.

"That is enough of that you two! Cardin, I know you're upset because you're moving soon, but that is no reason to go picking fights with the other students!" Jaune stuck his tongue out at Cardin, only to bite it when the teacher swiveled his stern gaze onto the blonde boy. "And you! Jaune, it is simply not acceptable of an aspiring Hunter to go trying to get into fights because they don't believe what you do! Your parents would be ashamed if I told them about this, both of you!" Both boys looked down, ashamed as the teacher set them down on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do I have to tell them?" He prompted.

"No-no. Cardin, I… I'm sorry." The bigger boy widened his eyes at the apology, then frowned and shook his head, not quite meeting the blue eyes looking at him. A cough from their teacher made his frown grow wider before he grumped.

"I'm sorry too." The teacher nodded at that and started to walk away, resuming a watch over the entire playing field the class was on. Once the teacher was a short distance away, Cardin's face got extremely angry. "Sorry that you can't tell the difference between stories and real people!" With that last insult the larger boy ran off, leaving Jaune glaring after him, one hand curling into a tiny fist at his side. He stamped his foot and stormed through the dissipating crowd of students, grumbling under his breath. He missed the short black haired girl who stared after him, her eyes wide with wonder as he forced his way away from the rest of the children milling about.

 _ **AN:  
Well. This is new. This is going to be a crossover fic of RWBY, what is a fairly light hearted animated series… and Dark Souls, which is NOT light hearted. Specifically, Dark Souls 2. To those familiar with the game, the story here is the official twisting of the universe that I'm putting the lore through to fit into RWBY better, but you don't need to know Dark Souls to understand what's going on here, things will be explained as the characters learn about them. The scene at Signal is just to show some earlier differences in Jaune because of his obsession with the story of the Future Monarch, namely one thing is that he's actually being trained, not going through without learning how to fight. I picked Cardin just… well just to give them a bit of backstory for later at Beacon. Also, Acier as the father's name. From what I know, Jaune's father isn't named in canon, so I tried to think of something that would fit the CNR. Since Jaune is French, I chose a word from that language.**_

 _ **Anyway! This is a plot bunny that has been burrowing away in my head for a while. It was competing with a plot thread of Nier waking up after the end of the game he is in in the RWBY universe but… wow I'm getting off topic. I'm just going to sign off for now, and I hope you all look forward to the next chapter! Which will be, of course, the Initiation.**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: Lamentations**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Dark Souls.**_

 **Airship**

Jaune clenched his teeth tightly, his breath hissing through them as he fought back wave after wave of nausea, losing the battle a little more every time the ship he was riding jolted in the currents in the air. He took a deep breath, trying to hold it in, his eyes fixed through the window on the landing strip ahead of them. The end was in sight, and he had almost made it, an accomplishment for any Arc!

And maybe he would have made it if a hand hadn't slapped his shoulder, breaking his concentration. Dismay flashed across his features, and he could feel his gorge rising rapidly as vomit rushed up the back of his throat. He frantically looked around, ignoring the bright and cheerful greeting from the person who had slapped him, and spotted a trashcan. The blonde rushed over to it, shoving someone out of the way in his hurry. Just in time he managed to grab ahold of it, and emptied the contents of his stomach into the can.

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry!" Through watering eyes, Jaune looked back to where he was standing, and spotted two girls standing there. A blonde-haired girl who looked slightly worried but also slightly amused, and a short, black-haired girl next to her who did looked just concerned. The blonde was the one who was speaking, as the two walked over to him.

"N-no, it's alright. I don't do well with air travel." Another tremor passed through him, but Jaune forced it down through willpower as he stood back upright, wiping his mouth the back of a gauntleted hand before he smiled shakily at the girls. "Name's Jaune, nice to meet you."

"Ah, well, still, sorry, I didn't realize you were trying to hold that back Vomit-Boy." A blue eye twitched at the nickname. "My name is Yang, Yang Xiao-Long, and this is my sister, Ruby." The smaller girl waved, and Jaune realized that she was actually partially hiding behind her sister as she peeked out at him.

"Nice to meet you both." He paused, then held out his other hand. "My mom always says that a stranger is just a friend you haven't met you, so, friends?" Both girls blinked, and Yang laughed before clasping his hand.

"Bold, bold! I like it! Sure! And hey, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next four years, so why not start now? Come on Ruby!" She reached behind her and corralled her sister, dragging her out with a tug that brought the shorter girl to the front. The girl blushed and squeaked, then grabbed Jaune's hand and shook it rapidly, startling the blonde boy.

"HimynameisRubynicetomeetyou!" Both blondes stared at the girl, whose blush deepened. "Uhm, you probably don't remember me, but I went to Signal with you!" Jaune's eyes widened and he peered at the short girl closer, trying to see if he recognized her.

"Sorry, but no, I don't. Were you in one of the other classes?" Yang's boisterous laugh rang out again.

"Nope, my little sister is a prodigy! She graduated Signal early and almost got drafted into Beacon." The girl in question ducked her head down, covering her face with the hood of the red cloak she was wearing. Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, that's impressive! I might have to ask you for help then." The hood shifted as the girl pulled deeper into it, and he chuckled. Then he clapped a hand over his mouth as the airship touched down, and the jolting disrupted his stomach again. The conversation had distracted him from his motion sickness, at least until a major jolt reminded him of the issue. "Uh, you'll have to excuse me, I've uh… yeah." With that, he grabbed the trashcan he had thrown up into and hurried towards the ramp, fighting through the flow of people. He did get a bit of a gap thanks to the odorous contents in the can he was carrying.

Night had fallen, and everyone was now inside a massive dining hall, setting up bed mats and sleeping bags depending on their preference. Jaune padded through the door from dropping off his stuff in a locker, looking for a place where he could curl up to get a few hours of sleep. He drew a few odd looks and laughs for his sleeping clothes, a deep blue onesie with shields and blue bolts scattered across it, but he ignored those with the ease of someone supremely self-confident. The blonde was irritated to see that there weren't really any spots open on what looked to be the decreed 'guys' side of the dining hall, until he spotted a candlelight flickering up against the far wall, almost on the unofficial line, which revealed a vacant spot on the male half of the chamber.

He made his way through the hall, walking along the line that divided the two halves of the room as it was the only place where there weren't really people laying or sitting on the ground, chatting with each other. As he walked, he did see some guys flexing and mock-wrestling with each other, and he shook his head in exasperation at them showing off as he made his way to the open spot. Once he'd reached the wall, he nodded to the bow-wearing girl who was using the candle, reading by the candlelight as the natural light dimmed. She flicked her eyes up towards him but for the most part ignored him, content to read as Jaune dropped his small travel-bag on the ground, and he sat down.

Jaune pulled a blanket and small pillow from his bag and curled himself up under his, turning on his side and promptly dropping off to sleep, cutting out the noise in the area and the soft light from the candle near him as he shut out the outside world.

 **?**

A heavy mace swung through the air, forcing the target to roll backwards, just narrowly avoiding the attack from the weapon that was nearly as large as he was. The short figure snarled in rage and frustration as he was put on the defensive by the monster he was fighting. While he could probably tank a couple of hits from that mace, he could see another of the massive armor-clad knights moving up towards him, and he needed to stay mobile or else he'd get himself trapped, and rapidly killed.

"*******, just focus on that one, I'll distract the other!" His eye flickered to his teammate that had managed to join him, her hazy blue figure flickering in and out of existence as she gripped her whip and charged at the other knight that was approaching them. He refocused on the knight that was bringing its mace back up from the missed swing, and narrowed his eyes. A deep breath, swinging his flanged mace around in his hand as he watched his foe for an opening. An idea came to him, and he tensed his shield arm for the action.

He darted in, prompting the massive knight to swing its ridiculously sized mace around, trying to swat him out of existence. But that was what he had wanted, what he had been prepared for. His shield came up and with a grunt of exertion and pain, smashed the mace away, knocking the armored knight off balance as it tried to keep its hold on its weapon. Before it could recover, the warrior smashed out one hollow knee, bringing the lumbering knight down to one leg, and with a scream of frustration, he gripped the hilt of his mace in both hands and brought it around in an overhead arc that smashed the knight's helmet in. The baleful blue lights that flickered in place of its eyes died, and the hollow collection of armor fell apart, the accursed magic that held it together fading as the warrior absorbed the souls that had been trapped within. The armor faded from existence, and he turned around to see what was happening with his teammate.

An involuntary scream ripped from his throat as he watched her darting around the other knight, trying frantically to avoid its blows. She was an Assassin, and against the hollow collection of armor, she couldn't do much damage, and it was showing. But the reason for his scream was when she stumbled on a piece of rubble that had been dislodged by a swing from the knight, and before she could recover the massive mace swung down and obliterated her blue form from existence.

The warrior dropped his shield and dashed forward, catching the knight off guard. One heavy blow knocked the knight's weapon from its hands, and two blows knocked it onto its back. Before it could get up, he leapt on top of it, rage filling his features as he started bashing away at its chestplate, denting it until with a shriek of metal, the armor gave way. The warrior trembled with exertion and anger as the souls from the knight flowed up into him, and he trudged back over to where his shield was.

Too late, he heard the jingling footsteps. Too late, he remembered the white knight that had been prowling at the back of the platform they were fighting on. Pain pierced his chest, and he looked down dumbfounded at the lightning edged blade that was erupting from his chest.

 **Beacon Dining Hall**

Jaune woke up with a strangled scream, biting his tongue on the sound before it could escape his lips and wake anyone else up. Looking around frantically, he saw that a significant amount of time had passed, and most of the people in the dining hall were asleep. Beside him though, the girl who had been reading was sitting up, staring at him, with confusion evident in her yellow eyes. He shook his head slightly, and she shrugged but settled back, still watching him. Jaune frowned but curled back into his blanket, biting his lip in thought.

 _That's the first time I've seen anyone else in one of my nightmares, anyone that isn't trying to kill me that is. I wonder what changed?_ He shook his head, trying to get back to sleep for now as he hoped that his general experience of only one of those nightmare/dreams happening per night held true.

Sleep didn't come to him though, and he ended up watching the silent dining hall as the rest of the night and early morning passed without any kind of incident. When the sun was starting to rise, he sighed and gave up on the prospect of sleep, instead standing up and making his way carefully through the sleeping figures in the area, tucking his pillow and blanket back into his bag as he walked. He remembered passing a shower room on his way back from the locker room where he'd stored his stuff, and that was where he ended up heading.

After the shower, and a quick stop at the locker to grab fresh clothes, he made his way to the dining room, making his way to the professor he'd seen watching over the hall when he'd gotten up. The man, a middle-aged man in a red jacket and dark brown pants, looked up, blinking blearily at the teen.

"Got a question have you my boy? Ask away!" Despite the obvious exhaustion in the man's voice, it was filled with cheer and amusement, as if the man was even now on the verge of laughter. Jaune shrugged slightly and nodded.

"Ah, where can I get some breakfast?" The man's eyebrows rose, and he nodded towards a door off to one side of the hall. "Thank you sir."

"Think nothing of it my boy! And I hope you make it through the initiation! Have a good morning, see you in class!" The man waved as Jaune headed towards the door that the man had indicated, and Jaune could hear other people starting to wake up as the sun rose further and started shining its rays into the hall.

Jaune ate a leisurely breakfast, watching as other people rushed in, stuffing food into their face in a rush before running out to shower. He saw Ruby and Yang come through, arguing, well the blonde was arguing, with the white-haired girl from yesterday, though he couldn't hear what about. He watched amused as the short girl loaded her plate down with cookies, then hid that plate from her sister when Yang looked at her. The white haired girl threw a pamphlet at Ruby and stomped off, huffing audibly even from where Jaune was sitting.

Jaune looked at the sun's height and sighed – it was getting up high enough that the Initiation would probably be starting soon, so he'd need to get his combat gear and get ready to go. He pushed away from the table and took his plate over towards the bus station, dropping them off and making his way back towards the locker room to get his weapons.

"Alright, 636, it was over this way." While walking towards where his locker had been, the tall blonde boy spotted the white-haired girl chatting with a red-haired girl. He had to resist the urge to sigh when he realized that they were standing in front of his locker, and he walked towards them.

"Sorry, excuse me." Both women turned to look at him, and the white-haired girl narrowed her eyes in an angry glare. "Sorry to interrupt, bu-" Before he could even finish his statement, the white-haired girl stamped a foot and interrupted him.

"You should be sorry! Do you have any idea who you're interrupting here?" Jaune frowned and flicked his eyes back and forth between the two of them, then shook his head. This seemed to infuriate the white-haired girl, who crossed her arms and glared. "My name is Weiss Schnee." The name clicked, but Jaune by now couldn't help but rile this girl up more. He waved a hand, gesturing for her to continue.

"Ok?"

"Of the Schnee Dust Company?" Now the girl seemed to be stunned, and Jaune had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Of course he knew who some of the premier Dust-suppliers in the world were, but this was too easy.

"Oh! I thought your parents were just fans." Weiss' mouth dropped open and flopped open and closed as she repeated what he said, and Jaune turned to the red-haired girl, who was holding one hand up to her mouth as she laughed. "Sorry, and you are?" He held out a hand to her, and the girl shook it while smiling warmly.

"My name is Pyrrha Nikos, a pleasure to meet you." Jaune's eyes widened.

"Really?" He could see the girl deflate, and he felt like kicking himself. "Sorry, it's just, my little sisters love Pumpkin Pete's." Both girls stop what they were doing and stare at him. "What?"

"You… you don't recognize her from anything else?"

"No, should I?" He frowned and looked back and forth between the two, then slapped himself up the side of the head. "Oh, right, sorry. My name's Jaune, nice to meet you." Pyrrha rubbed one arm while looking at Jaune as he looked back and forth between the two of them.

"So, why did you come over here Jaune….?" Weiss was the one who broke the silence, and Jaune jumped a little bit. He knew she was trying to get his last name, but he'd had enough of people trying to fawn over him because of who he was related to so … wait, this was a Schnee. She'd probably had plenty of the same and would know why it would be bothersome.

"Well, you two are in front of my locker." The two girls looked at the locker that he gestured to, then took a step back as he reached inside and pulled out a long sword, wrapped in an intricate white and gold sheath. He slung this onto his back and bowed to the girls.

"We should probably get moving, or else we're going to be late to the Initiation." They looked at their scrolls, frowning when they saw the time, and followed after him as he walked outside, towards the cliff they'd been told to meet at yesterday.

 **Beacon Cliff over Emerald Forest**

Everyone had lined up along the cliff's edge, looking out towards the expansive forest that stretched below Beacon Academy. A throat clearing had everyone turn around, to see the Headmaster, Ozpin, and the Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, standing a short distance behind them.

"Well everyone, you have made it. Initiation is about to begin, and with it your time here at Beacon Academy. You will be get your partner today, the person you will come to rely upon for everything here in Beacon, as well as your team, those who are your friends, and hopefully your family. This is an auspicious day for you all." He took a long sip from the mug in his hand before continuing. "As such, the first person you see in the forest, will become your partner for the next four years." Several sounds of shock and confusion met his words.

"Good luck! I hope you all have landing strategies ready." Jaune stared, stunned at the man, when suddenly there was a loud 'clunk' from nearby. He turned his gaze, only to see a platform lowering back into the ground. He looked out along the path, and saw a person flying through the air like a bullet. His blue eyes tracked to Ruby who was standing next to him, and he swallowed.

"Uh, see you on the other side, right?" The girl nodded determinedly, grinning widely as more people were flung from the cliff's edge out towards the forest. Jaune tightened his grip on his sword, taking several deep breaths. On the other side of Ruby, Yang was launched, then the short girl, and it was his turn. He clenched his eyes as he felt the ground below him start to move, and the platform shot him out through the air, sending him tumbling end over end.

This was killing him with his motion sickness. That was the only thing that occupied his time and thoughts, as he felt his stomach try to rise every few seconds, only to be forcibly thrown back down as gravity and inertia spun him around. He saw the trees start to rise up towards him, and he let out a flare of aura as he righted himself, trying to get his descent under control.

Just before he reached the treeline, he heard a strange humming sound, and turned around, spinning in the air several times before he managed to see what was making the noise. A bronze and red spear shot through the air towards him, and he could see, in the few seconds before impact what had happened. Someone, he didn't know who, had seen him tumbling through the air, and tried to help him. But they had thrown the spear before he'd used his aura, and that had thrown off where he was, in a terrifying way. He tried to use another flare of aura to throw himself out of the way, but by the time his brain caught up with what was happening, it was too late.

The spear pierced his chest, in an eerie echo of the nightmare that he had had, and pinned him to a tree. The blonde-haired boy managed to let out a wet cough before slumping, his hands grasping weakly at the spear buried in his chest before they gave out, dropping to his sides.

 **?**

"Oh, dear. You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

 _ **AN:  
Hot on the heels of the prologue, here's chapter one. I do have to admit, when I was going to post this story, I'd thought about just placing it in the RWBY archive instead of the crossover archive, but I ended up thinking that the elements of Dark Souls that I was going to use would have enough of an impact that I should just go ahead and officially make it a crossover. Especially with this. I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it!**_

 _ **Stats: 8 Followers, 6 Favorites, 3 Reviews, and 1 Community! And 221 views, which I find mindboggling for this admittedly small genre focus.**_

 _ **Theunknown4299**_

 _ **I'll try to update as quickly as I can, but I'm a college senior, so my free time is limited. Hope this satisfies though!**_

 _ **Zeta the Badass Overlord**_

 _ **Hope this didn't just catch that attention, but kept it! Glad you like the story!**_

 _ **SpecialMonitor22**_

 _ **Well, you don't actually need to know much of the lore for Dark Souls to know what's going on here. If I'm incorporating lore into this, I'll make sure to explain it, so don't worry about inside jokes. At most you'll have to wait for when it's revealed! And besides, I have to adjust the lore both of Dark Souls and of RWBY to make this work like I want it to, so knowing that lore might not help in the first place. Hope you like this!**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Dark Souls or RWBY.**_

 **?**

***** sat up, holding a hand to his chest, panting heavily. Tremors ran across his entire body as the image of the spear hurtling towards him flashed through his mind over and over. He started patting his chest, strangely not feeling any kind of hole in his armor, or a wound when he checked under his breastplate.

 _What on earth? I swear that javelin pierced my chest. I …. I died… Or was that another of my nightmares?_ He started to look around, trying to figure out where he was. The boy was in some kind of small cottage, that looked like the inside of a tree with a small fire crackling in what looked like a hearth. He nearly let out a shriek when he realized that what he had thought was the doll of an old woman – looking far, far older than any living being could possibly be – let out a cackling laugh and waved a hand for him to come closer.

"Come closer, let me take a look at you. It's been quite a while since I've seen a fresh Undead, instead of one of those slavering beasts that I have to immediately send out." The male stood up on shaky legs and slowly walked towards the ancient woman. As he moved closer, he examined the rest of her figure. She was incredibly old, like he had first thought, and was dressed in a deep maroon robe complete with a hood that was up around her head. When he was closer, he could see that she had thin, wiry white hair that clung to her skull. Her eyes were white and covered with a thin white film, as if she was blind, but the way they were fastened onto him belied any kind of eyesight problem. The man came to a stop in front of her, only a few feet away, and the incredibly old woman studied him, looking up and down.

"Kehehehe. You really are a fresh Undead. By the far fires, it's been quite some time since there's been a new one! Go on then, take a look at yourself!" He looked down, following her gesture, and leapt back when he saw that his hands were green, not tanned like he was used to. Terrified, he stripped the gauntlets from his hands, revealing more diseased, rotted flesh, and he let out a scream of pure terror. He saw a bucket of water next to the fire, presumably to put it out if it became a danger, and he ran over to it.

Panic filled his mind when the man saw that the rotten, dead flesh was more than just his hands. His face was also dead flesh, and his eyes were completely covered by a white film that prevented him from seeing the color of his irises. His hair had turned a dank, grimy grey-white, like he was _old_ , and his fragmented memories didn't have enough in them to say he was old.

"Wh-wh-what's… what's happened to me?" His voice came out as a rusty, disused croak, like it had been years since he'd used it, and he reached up to feel his throat, half-afraid that it was rotted out. The ancient woman let out another cackle, and began rocking in her chair, pulling yarn out from somewhere and beginning to knit as she spoke to him.

"You have fallen under an ancient, almost eternal curse dear boy, the curse of the Dark Sign." ***** slowly walked closer to her, tentative steps that were extremely hesitant. "You are the first person in many, many generations to visit me, so do take a seat." One needle swung upwards, to indicate a chair that he would swear on his life – or should that be his death now? – hadn't been there a few moments ago. He sat down, gripping his knees in fear and confusion as he tried to take steady breaths.

"Relax, relax, your state isn't so bad as all that dear boy. Many before you have managed to live at least somewhat successful lives…" ***** began to relax before the woman let out another creaky laugh. "That is, until the madness takes them and makes them into beasts." His eyes flicked downwards to see what she was making, and he was creeped out by the fact that a human figure seemed to be forming in a hollow shape between her needles. "You are accursed to live a life of death and undeath, flickering between the states of looking like a completely normal human, and this, your true state. Though thankfully for you, once you can find a way to regain your former state, you won't reveal this form again unless you die once more. Of course, you do now have the advantage of being immune to true death, unless you can find another accursed as you are, who can take your souls from you permanently. Do try to cling to those dear boy, for they will be what keeps you sane and whole." Another mad cackle had the remaining hairs on the back of his neck stand up in fear.

"I…is…. There any…. Way to …undo this?" The woman grinned manically, revealing rotted teeth and a crooked smile. She sat back, having apparently finished what she was knitting, and rolled it back and forth between her fingers as she stared at him. Finally, she nodded, the grin widening.

"I suppose there might be. The last of the new Undead, so many years ago, apparently found a way to freeze the curse, preventing anyone else from suffering from it." A flash of memory, of warm hands and a soft voice speaking.

… _in the process of his disappearance, the Curse was prevented from infecting any more people._ White eyes widened, and ***** sat bolt upright.

"The… Future Monarch!" The crone let out a loud laugh, and pointed a needle at him.  
"Correct, good lad! Yes, the one who became known as the Future Monarch was the last to fall victim to the Curse. As a reward." Without warning, the doll figure that she'd knitted was tossed to him, and he realized with a shudder that what he had thought was yarn was nothing of the sort – it felt like a cross between human flesh and human hair, wiry and tough, yet pliable and yielding to the touch. "Go on, take a deeper look. Maybe then you can tell me your name?"

***** slowly raised the figure to his face, studying it intently. It looked somehow familiar, like it was specifically made to resemble something, or someone. Staring at it, the figure slowly blurred, gaining features as if they'd been there the whole time. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a cheeky grin, tanned skin…

Jaune let out a gasp as his mind snapped together, memories locking back into place as if nothing had been preventing it in the first place. The figure was gone from his hands, though he couldn't figure out what had happened to it, and he dropped his head into his hands as a massive headache coursed between his temples.

It was only after the headache subsided that he came to the realization that his hands were no longer rotted and dead, but healthy and whole again. He sat up, and touched his face, no longer feeling the rotted and sagging flesh that had been there moments ago. His eyes slowly tracked up to the ancient woman, who was watching him patiently.

"My.." It was strange, hearing his young, strong voice again while clearly able to remember the croak he'd been speaking in seconds ago. "My name is Jaune Arc." The woman nodded.

"Good, good. Now then, you'll have to find me again later, I'm sure, but for now, off with you. When you seek me, look for Shanalotte." She waved a hand dismissively towards him, and Jaune's eyes began to ache fiercely. He closed them to try blinking away the pain, and between one blink and the next, he blacked out.

 **Emerald Forest**

Jaune sat up, underneath the tree that he had been pinned to earlier. Strangely, the javelin that had been buried in his chest before was laying on the ground next to him, clean of any blood or gore. Additionally, his chest was also perfectly fine, as was his armor. He pressed the heel of one hand against his temple, pressing against it as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

 _Was that all just a dream?_ He looked upwards, only to see that there was a hole in the tree bark above him, or rather, a chunk torn out of it. So that at least had been real, but maybe he'd just hit his head while his coat got caught by the spear? He looked at his coat, but the blue was perfectly fine, undamaged as was the rest of him. The blonde frowned and stood up, groaning as a dizzy wave shot over him, and he shook his head and flared his Aura to clear away the problem.

Or at least, he tried. A thrum of panic pierced him, and he tried again, actually focusing hard for the first time in years on using his Aura, which had become almost second nature to him through years of practice. But for some terrifying reason he couldn't figure out, the light of his soul wouldn't respond to his attempts at using it. Fear filled him as he gripped his weapon, shivers racing down his spine as he realized that he was out, in a forest, presumably filled with Grimm, alone…without his Aura.

A branch cracked nearby, and he spun around, drawing Crocea Mors in a fluid motion, to point it at the redhead he'd spoken to this morning, Pyrrha. The girl blinked, coming to a dead stop as the blade pointed at her face. For a moment, silence reigned, then Jaune let out a sheepish laugh and lowered his weapon. As soon as it was down, the girl rushed forward, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around, her eyes frantically searching over him.

"Sweet Oum, I am so sorry! Are you ok? I thought… oh Oum, I thought I'd…" Her words came out in a rapid babble that the blonde Arc had trouble understanding. His head was beginning to swim as she spun him around and shook him, looking for something that she hadn't actually explained. Finally she stopped searching, calming down when she apparently verified that he was ok, and she let him go.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm fine, I'm fine!" _Crap. Well. There goes the dream theory. No need to worry her though…_ He sheathed Crocea Mors and patted her shoulders, trying to soothe her fear. "See? Whoever threw the spear just knocked me into the tree, my armor was enough to stop the blow." While he knew better now, there was no need to make her panic because he had…. _Holy Monty. I died._ He locked up for a second, as the reality of the situation washed over him. Was that why he no longer had his Aura? Because that which is dead can't have a soul? But he didn't feel any different from before, if anything, he felt… stronger.

"Uh, that was, uh… me. I was trying to pin you to a tree, because I thought you might hurt yourself in your fall. I… I'm sorry." Jaune gave her a reassuring smile.

"No need to apologize, you were just trying to help me, right?" She nodded. "Well, I'm fine, I didn't get eaten by any Grimm, and I didn't get hurt. We hurt the tree a lot worse than me." He grinned, and she gam him a weak smile in return. "Now then, I think Headmaster Ozpin said that the first person we made eye contact with was out partner right? Have you seen anyone else?" Pyrrha shook her head, a hopeful expression slowly filling her face. "Well, I haven't either, so that means we're stuck with each other! By the way, I didn't give you my full name earlier. It's Arc, Jaune Arc." Her eyes widened, and she mouthed his last name, he bit back a sigh. Before he could say anything though, she nodded fiercely.

"Right. Well then Jaune, let us go. We need to…" Both Hunters-to-be froze as they realized something. Ozpin hadn't said anything beyond that whoever they saw first would be their partner. "Uh.. we need to.. get back?" At a loss for anything more, the two shrugged at each other then looked around. "Yes, I believe that'd be the best course of action. Would you happen to know which way leads us back?" Jaune rubbed his chin at her question, then looked up at the tree he'd slammed into.

"Probably in…" He trailed off when he realized something. The gouge in the tree from his impact was less of a hole, and more of an elongated tear. And since he'd been unconscious, or whatever he was, when his body reached the ground, he had no idea where he'd come from. "Well. Probably back in the direction you came from." The two of them looked back along the way that Pyrrha had come from, and nodded. That was probably their best bet, so the two of them set off back that way.

Sadly for the two of them, it was extremely easy to get lost in the Emerald Forest. It was slowly edging towards nightfall, so they had been discussing option or what to do when it came. They'd have to find a place to take shelter for the night – far more dangerous Grimm tended to hunt in the darkness of night. The two Hunter-trainees had managed to dispatch a small pack of Beowolves, though Jaune had let Pyrrha take the forefront in the fight as he was still thrown off from the fact that his Aura was missing… something he hadn't let his partner in on yet. He'd stayed defensive, letting her take them out while keeping them off of her back, but he didn't know how much longer he would be able to do that. It also bothered him to stay on the defensive and let her handle things, but without his Aura he wasn't even sure he could, no matter how much stronger he felt.

Jaune felt a wave of relief when he saw a cave ahead of them, and tugged on Pyrrha's arm to get her attention. The tall redhead turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, and then turned to follow his raised hand. She smiled and nodded.

"Excellent, that shall give us some shelter from the night and the Grimm!" The two of them began cutting through the thin line of trees, only to duck when an extremely loud roar echoed through the forest behind them. Without looking over their shoulders, both sprinted forward, heading for the cave and the admittedly limited shelter it provided.

As they ran through the entrance, Jaune noticed something on the walls that they were running through. Faint drawings were on the edges, but the lack of light made it impossible to see the actual fine details. _Hopefully, those meant shelter here!_ The two skidded up against a wall, sliding slightly on the smooth stone surface of the floor. Silence held for a few moments, then a loud crash from the entrance area had the two looking back.

A large black and white figure was outside, thought what it was exactly they couldn't make out. Whatever it was though, had run into the cave mouth, and broken the entrance, for the cave entrance was breaking apart under the stress and sudden impact, rocks falling from the walls and ceiling, piling up rapidly until the view of outside was blocked off. Dropped into darkness, Jaune and Pyrrha let out uneasy laughs.

"Well. Uhm. I guess we wait here for now?" Jaune let out a shaky grin, though he knew Pyrrha couldn't see it. He heard a small sound, and felt hands wrap around his arm.

"I… Yes. Yes, that would probably be for the best. Day will bring light back into this cave." The hands on his arm dragged him down, and Jaune realized that Pyrrha was sitting down and pulling him with her. He went along with it, folding himself onto the ground and pressing his back against the wall as the redhead beside him sat down in the darkness, leaning against his shoulder and sighing.

"Well. We've probably got a few hours to wait, I lost track of the time." Jaune's eyes tracked onto something flickering deep in the darkness ahead of them, but whatever it was disappeared before he could figure out what it was. He put it out of his mind for now, it had been too far away to worry about right now, and with Pyrrha wanting to sit down and wait it out he couldn't head off into the darkness alone. There was also the cave drawing that they had passed that was niggling at the back of his head – he remembered seeing a lot of smaller figures around a larger one, but that could have been any number of things.

The two of them had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour, with the redhead barely speaking up whenever Jaune tried to draw her into conversation. In that time, twice more the blonde had seen the faint light down in the darkness, but it hadn't seemed to move from the position that he had first seen it in. With a start, he realized that Pyrrha had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he looked in her direction to see her shoulders rising and falling in a steady, gentle motion. His eyes had adjusted to the near total darkness, enough so that he could see a few feet away.

The blonde Arc shifted carefully, moving her off of his shoulder, and rested her back against the wall they had been sitting against, then slowly stood up. The girl shivered and wrapped her arms around her legs, and Jaune could see that she was shivering slightly. He pulled his cloak off of his back and draped it over her shoulders, and watched her relax. That accomplished, he pulled his sword off of his back, deploying the sheath into its shield state just in case whatever he was seeing wasn't friendly.

He started walking down through the tunnel, making his way carefully through the rock-strewn path. The further the Huntsman-to-be got from the cave mouth, the darker the cave system got, making it progressively harder to see. Once or twice he did kick a rock in the path, but his boots were heavy enough that it didn't actually hurt his feet. From up ahead there was a chittering, rustling sound, and Jaune's heart plummeted to his feet. Not many creatures made sounds like that, and even fewer would be in the middle of a Grimm infested forest like this. He gripped Crocea Mors tightly in one hand and lifted his shield up, now on guard for whatever was coming at him in the darkness.

Several tense minutes passed for him, with nothing happening aside from the rustling continuing. The light continued to bob in and out of sight up ahead, though Jaune still couldn't actually see what it was. He finally gave up and started to move forward again, keeping his shield up and ready in case something rushed at him. Slowly and methodically he made his way through the tunnel, trying to see through the deepening darkness around him, watching for any openings or cracks in the tunnel walls.

Finally the tunnel that he was in opened up, and Jaune rapidly lost sight of the wall beside him. The light that had been bobbing in and out of sight was now much more visibly, and was weaving back and forth behind something that obscured his line of sight on it every so often. He swallowed and began inching towards it, wondering what on Remnant he was doing. The smart thing at this point would have been to go back and get Pyrrha, and team up with her against whatever this was….

But he needed to prove to himself he could still fight. He needed to know that even with his seeming lack of Aura he could still take on the Grimm. If he couldn't, it would be better if he just found out now, and left Beacon without making a mockery of himself. His parents hadn't really wanted him to become a Huntsman anyway, and all he'd have to tell them is that the Initation had proved too much for him. Jaune wasn't going to just give in though, not when he'd come so far, not when he'd _gotten back up after death_ , and if he could fight without Aura, now was the time to find out.  
He approached the dark mass ahead of him, and felt a shiver of fear race down his spine when he started to make out a massive pair of pincers through the gloom. That was enough to clue him in on what the beast ahead of him was – an enormous Deathstalker. Crocea Mors wouldn't be enough for him to get through the things carapace, not without Aura to back up his blows. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, rapidly running through tactics in his mind. Crushing its carapace would be out of his ability, not without a blunt, heavy weapon, so he'd need to attack the joints and other places where the hard, bone-like armor wasn't quite as thick.

Before he could go into battle against the creature though, there was a strange tugging sensation in his chest, and it felt like it was pulling towards his right hand, where he was holding Crocea Mors. There was an intense flash of bright blue-white light and when he could see again, the Arc felt his jaw drop.

Gone was his ancestral blade, forged in times of war and used for generations by his family. In its place was a heavy flanged mace, and he felt his head swim slightly when he managed to recognize the weapon - _from his dream the night before_! This was what he'd been using in the nightmare against those massive armored knights, and even with one hand it had been enough to get through their metal armor. He didn't know how, or why, the weapon had changed, but for the moment he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It wasn't all for the best though. The bright flash of light had apparently woken up the Deathstalker, and Jaune could see its massive claws shifting as multiple clicks sounded out through the cave. It was standing up, and he didn't have much time for a preemptive strike. With a roar, holding all the confusion and rage that had been building up since the javelin had pierced his chest, Jaune rushed at the Deathstalker, swinging for the joint where one claw connected to the 'arm' of the beast.

There was a loud crack, and the claw began to sag, the lower half drooping towards the floor. Jaune could see a thin stream of blue-black smoke escaping from a crack in the carapace on the Grimm, though he'd never seen a blue smoke from one of the monsters before. The other claw cut off his thoughts as it struck at him like a snake, springing towards him rapidly. He ducked down behind his shield, feeling the impact on the metal, bruising his arm slightly. It also sent him skidding along the ground, though thankfully not too far, and he retaliated by angling the shield enough to send the claw, which was still straining against his defense, flying upwards. Jaune swung again, feeling his mace crack into the carapace once more, before he had to jump backwards to avoid the tail strike that nearly pierced him where he stood.

 _Holy Oum. I don't just feel stronger, I_ _ **am**_ _stronger! There's no way I could have cracked a Deathstalker's armor before. What on earth happened to me?_ He shook off his thoughts before he suffered for being distracted in battle, and focused on the massive beast in front of him. With two cracks in its armor leaking some strange kind of vapor, weakening it, Jaune felt that he actually had a chance at victory. He tightened his grip on the altered Crocea Mors, and rushed back forward, just narrowly missing the stinger as the Deathstalker pulled it out of the ground.

Slowly but surely Jaune chipped away at his foe, doing his best to roll out of the way of any tail strikes, while weathering the blows from the scorpion-Grimm's functioning claw with his shield. That actually gave him a tremendous advantage, and he exploited it fully, keeping as close to the disabled pincer as he could, smashing his mace into it, trying to damage the beast as much as he could without putting himself in harm's way. With a shriek of pain that reverberated through the cave, the Deathstalker began to retreat, waving its good claw to keep Jaune away from it.

The blonde Hunter let out an angry snarl and collapsed the sheath, tucking it onto his back as he gripped his mace in both hands, then charged after it. The thing was weakened, damaged and trying to pull back to recuperate, and he wasn't going to let that happen. The claw snapped in front of him in the air, and he rolled underneath it, coming up inside of its effective range. With a loud grunt of effort Jaune smashed the mace into the Deathstalker's face, heavily cracking the armor there. It let another shriek and tried to stab him with its tail, but he adroitly sidestepped the attempt to puncture his flesh, and brought his weapon around in an arc that cracked into the stinger right above the glowing portion. There was a loud cracking sound, and the golden stinger fell to the ground, losing some of its sheen as it lay there.

Losing its tail seemed to stun the Grimm, as it paused, and for a moment Jaune felt he could see stunned disbelief in the beast's eyes. But he knew better than to attribute human emotions to the Grimm. He started to bring his mace up to end the fight, but before he could strike the blow he was thrown forward by a heavy blow against his back. He was flung up against the jaws of the Deathstalker, and he could feel the mouth-pincers wrap around his chest and begin tightening, trying to break him in half. A pained look over his shoulder showed him that the Deathstalker had brought its claw back inward, not attacking with it but just using it to shove him into its mouth.

"Let-go-of-me!" With each word, Jaune smashed his mace downwards into the pincers wrapped around his torso, feeling his ribs and armor creak beneath the mounting pressure. The blows did seem to weaken its deathgrip though, and he kept it up, lifting the mace and smashing it downwards into its mouth.

Something in his chest snapped, and a sharp thrum of pain shot through his body. Jaune let out a pained, angry roar, and brought his mace back up, gripping it in both hands. Still bellowing his defiance against the Deathstalker, the Arc Knight smashed Crocea Mors down, straight between the eyes of the Deathstalker. For a moment, silence filled the cavern, and then there was an explosive rush of wind. Starting from its tail, the Grimm began exploding, carapace shattering as wispy blue light began flowing up into the air, confusing the blonde teen who knew that Grimm died in clouds of black smoke. When the Grimm's head finally exploded, releasing him from its mouth, he fell to the ground, sending more pain through his body as the broken bone in his chest was jarred.

What he wasn't expecting though, was for that strange blue light to shoot towards him, wrapping around his body before flowing in through his mouth and nose. But instead of needing to cough, the blonde felt… invigorated, like he had accomplished something spectacular. He also felt something strange in his chest, like there was a… a pool, that was only now beginning to get filled up, though he had no idea what with. He let himself stay sitting for a moment, before slowly trying to get to his feet.

When he felt his armor fly upwards, pulling him up with it, he knew something strange was going on. Before he could recover from the sudden motion, he was tugged along, coming to a stop a few inches away from an absolutely _furious_ redhead, whose face matched her hair nearly perfectly.

"Uh… Hi Pyrrha." The girl shook one hand, jerking him back and forth before his face locked in a rictus of pain as his broken bone was shaken around by the motion. "S-sorry! I didn't know what was down here, I was just trying to take a look!"

"Why didn't you wake me up you fool! We could have worked together against that Grimm! And why didn't you use your Aura?" Jaune felt the color drain out of his face, and he looked away from his new partner. She caught on to his avoidance. Her voice turned worried. "Jaune, why didn't you use your Aura?"

"I…. I can't." The strange force holding him upwards vanished, and he dropped to his feet, letting out a grunt of pain as he landed, staggering slightly to keep his balance. Instead he found his head gripped in Pyrrha's hands, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Your Aura's been unlocked though, right? I saw you using it…" Jaune nodded slightly, and bit his lip. He had to explain now, she'd seen him use it before and not use it now, when it would have been incredibly smart to.

"I…. when I got thrown into that tree. I don't know what happened when I was knocked out, but I can't use my Aura any more. I tried using it before you got to me, but nothing happened. I've been using it for years, and I have no idea why I can't now." Pyrrha gasped and brought one hand up to her mouth, her eyes watering as she stared at him.

 _ **AN:**_

 _ **Well! That's chapter 2! Things have been revealed, but more questions have probably come up now, hehe. This chapter just wouldn't end, I actually intended for the chapter to end about when Jaune found the Deathstalker, before Crocea Mors changed, but instead it just kept flowing! Hope you all enjoy this one as well!**_

 _ **Current stats: 18 Followers, 12 Favorites, 8 Reviews, 1 community, and a whopping 716 views! Seriously, when I started writing this and put it in the crossover section, I figured it would stay extremely unnoticed for a long time, so it makes me really happy that people are reading this! Thanks so much everyone!**_

 _ **Review Responses:**_

 _ **Danialzkz:**_

 _ **And so it continues! Hope you keep reading!**_

 _ **ArtanisRose:**_

 _ **Yeah… but he got better… well…. Maybe not better, but he got back up!**_

 _ **Firestorm808:**_

 _ **Heh, I actually forgot that was a MM reference, it's been a long while since I played the game. I hope the writing is good enough to keep you coming back, and I don't really plan on any of the others becoming a*** if they die…. Of course, I wasn't originally planning on anyone else falling to the Dark Sign for a while either.**_

 _ **NotSoSlimSh4dy:**_

 _ **Cliffhangers are authors' lifeblood. It keeps you coming back to find out what happened after that, gotta get that hook set in so you still want to read! Believe me, I know how much cliffhangers can be a pisstake.**_

 _ **SpecialMonitor22:**_

 _ **Yeah, the visions are going to be a bit of a recurring theme in this, showing differences in the Dark Souls universe to pave the way towards the RWBYverse. They'll also be showing some of the Monarch's companions, so look forward to seeing those differences and parallels! And of course, what an unfortunate… beginning. After all, a 'fate' isn't just the conclusion to a life… it's also the path that a life gets set on. Hope you enjoy!**_


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